Who am I?

Me: Realization of tiny parts working in tandem A brilliantly choreographed ballet of tiny parts acting in unison to realize the larger goal of sustaining life.

Well, You and me are a miracle in the flow of life!

We are like a flowing river and not like a rock. Our body and mind are more like a process than a structure, as almost every thing in our body including structure of our brain changes continuously. Mitosis and apoptosis (cell division and cell death) give birth to a new “you and me” continuously and not a single moment can pass without some change or other. There is continuity with change and change with continuity within the framework of the body and mind. So you and me represent the flow of life as a process - more as a verb than a noun.

It is more than a miracle that trillions of tiny parts called cells within you are working and talking to each other with great precision and exactly the way they should so that you can read this, comprehend and wonder about: What is the origin of our Universe? How come our Planet Earth has the right conditions for life?How do you and me come to exist? Where did we come from? How did you become you: your body, your brain – the hardware, conscious and the unconscious mind - the software steering your body and your behavior.

Our Universe - A breathtaking array of wonders.Universe is the cosmic mystery of immense proportions and everything existing in the Universe is the fruit of chance and necessity.

The first miracle: The universe itself

Let us explore…..

The defining moment in the creation of our universe called Big Bang is supposed to have happened about 13.7 billion years ago. Our Universe is at least a hundred billion light years across with a vast array of huge galaxies, stars, planets and almost an infinite number of tiny particles such as photons, protons, electrons, neutrons and many more. This ‘visible universe’ – the Universe we know and can talk about is a million, million, million, million miles across and according to Martin Rees, ‘the meta universe’ – the universe at large is vastly roomier and a number of light years to the edge of the universe would be written with millions of zeros!

The visible universe must be around ten billion light years across with about 100 billion galaxies and each galaxy having about 100 billion stars. The Planet Earth which is one of the planets around Sun, just one star among billions of stars in milky way galaxy, has taken 4.5 billion years for the emergence of human life. The forces and particles at the micro as well as macro level are governed by mathematical laws which influence the way the universe evolves.

Six numbers – Deep forces that shape the universe The astronomers addresses that the cosmic coincidence that six numbers in physics are just right for the emergence of galaxies, stars, chemistry and people.

Mandlebrot set detail

Six amazing numbers!

Martin Rees in his book “Just Six Numbers“ says that things would not be as they are even if there is very slight change in the value of these six numbers. He says that these six numbers, which determine the expansion of the Universe, its content and the forces governing it, are basically the recipe for our Universe. The mystery is why our universe is encoded by a set of numbers and formulae which are like the Mandlebrot Set.

These six fundamental numbers are: D - the number of dimensions we live in; N - the ratio of the strength of gravity to that of electromagnetism; Epsilon (ε) - the ratio of mass lost to energy when hydrogen is fused to form helium; Omega (Ω) - the density parameter describing the amount of dark matter; Lambda (λ) - representing new 'antigravity' force that controls the expansion of our universe and Q - the ratio between the rest mass energy of matter and the force of gravity. Each one of these six numbers plays a crucial and distinctive role in our universe, and together they determine how the universe evolves. These numbers influence the size and form of our universe and its elements, the space in which it expands and its life span itself. The universe is so sensitive to the value of these six numbers that if there is any minor change in their values, there would be no stars and no life. It is just a miracle that we evolved and came to exist as we are with just the right combination of these numbers. We should indeed be grateful that our expanding universe is just right for us.

If the gravity is a little too strong, the universe would collapse upon itself to a point of singularity and if it is weak the universe will keep racing away until everything is so far apart that there is no chance for material interactions. The universe would become inert and dead but very roomy. Critical density had to be perfectly balanced at a level insuring that gravity would be strong enough to cancel any infinite expansion of the universe, yet weak enough to prevent the premature collapse of the universe. Everything is just right so far and cosmologists call this the Goldilocks effect.

The nature of our universe is remarkably sensitive to just six numbers Each one of these six numbers plays a crucial and distinctive role in our Universe, and together they determine how the Universe evolves and make life possible.

Fine-tuned Universe

JBS.Haladene once famously observed “The Universe is not only queerer than we suppose; it is queerer than we can suppose". It is quite extra ordinary that if the universe had formed just a tiny bit differently - if gravity were fractionally stronger or weaker, if the expansion had proceeded just a little more slowly or swiftly, there might never have been stable elements to make you and me and the ground we stand on. Some experts believe that there may have been many other Big Bangs, perhaps trillions and trillions of them spread through the mighty span of eternity and that the reason we exist in this particular one is that this is one we could exist in.

The physical laws that govern the universe with billions of galaxies, stars and planets depend on these overwhelmingly large and small numbers and we humans would not exist if there is small change in any one of them. The properties of the quantum world such as type, number, size and mass of atoms and sub-atomic particles and the forces linking them together determine the chemistry of our everyday world and there by our life itself. If any of these values was “un-tuned,” there would be no stars and life as we know it in our current universe. This realization offers a radically new perspective on our place in the universe, and on the deep forces that shape, quite simply, everything. Edward P. Tryon of Columbia university once put it: In answer to the question of why it happened, I offer the modest proposal that our universe is simply one of those things which happen. Martin Reeves believes that there are many universes, possibly an infinite number, each with different attributes in different combinations and that we simply live in one that combines things in the way that allows us to exist. He makes analogy with a large stock of clothing where you are not surprised to find a suit that fits. If there are many universes, each governed by a different set of numbers, there will be one where there is a particular set of numbers suitable to life. We are in that one.

Martin says that our universe could not exist but for the special requisite tuning in the fundamental numbers that govern it. If there were many Big Bangs it shouldn't come as any surprise that in some of them the tuning is fulfilled for life to emerge and we find ourselves in just that universe. It appears as if the Universe evolved in a way that is exactly right for us, leading to human life on this planet Earth. The reasons why these numbers are exactly the way they are is still beyond comprehension – amazing and inspiring to continue the search for reasons and better understanding of the reality where we find. You and me could exist and even have the curiosity to understand the reasons for our existence as the universe is tuned to these just right values with extraordinary coherence and precision.

A miracle that the planet Earth is at the right distance from the Sun The distance of the Earth from the Sun is 150 million kilometers approximately, which made the right distance to sustain life. Suppose if we are too close to the Sun, then almost everything would vaporize. If we are too far, then everything would be in frozen condition. Life on Earth would be impossible if we were 1% farther or 5% closer to the Sun.

The second miracle: Earth is Suitable for life

Milky Way is just one of the more than 100 billion galaxies in the visible universe and estimates suggest that there could be more than 100 billion stars in the Milky Way and the Sun is just one of those stars. Our solar system may be the liveliest thing for trillions of miles but all the visible stuff in it including the Sun, planets and their moons, billions of asteroids, comets and others fill just one trillionth of the available space. According to Carl Sagan the probable planets in the universe at large could be 10 billion trillion and the amount of space through which they are lightly scattered would be beyond imagination. He wrote “If we are randomly inserted into the universe, the chances we would be on or near a planet would be less than one in a billion trillion trillion".

Worlds are precious. World that supports life with intelligence such as humans is very precious. Drake estimated the probability of finding advanced civilization such as ours in the Milky Way which could be millions of them but the average distance between two such planets could be 200 light years!

So far scientists have discovered about seventy planets outside the solar system out of the ten billion trillion or so that are thought to be out there. So humans can hardly claim to speak with authority on the matter. But it appears that if you wish to have a planet suitable for life, you have to be just awfully lucky and the more advanced the life, the luckier you have to be. The following are some of the very important factors which made life possible on the planet Earth.

Location:

It is a sort of miracle that the planet Earth is at the right distance from the right sort of star, one that is big enough to radiate lots of energy, but not so big enough to burn itself out swiftly. It is a curiosity of physics that the larger the star the more rapidly it burns. Had our Sun been ten times as massive, it would have exhausted itself after ten million years instead of ten billion and we would not be here now! We are also fortunate to orbit where we do. Too much nearer and everything on Earth would have boiled away. Much farther away and everything would have frozen. Earth would have been uninhabitable had it been just 1 percent farther from or 5 percent closer to the Sun.

Earth’s magnetic field shields us from cosmic radiation

Moon’s gravity The Moon's size is adequate, and the Earth-Moon distance is small enough to produce tides of appropriate size, and to provide a good-sized night light.

Earth’s interior:

The second important factor is that our planet is having a molten interior with magma swirling around beneath us. The lively interior created the outgassing that helped to build an atmosphere and provided us with magnetic field that shields us from cosmic radiation. It also gave us plate tectonics, which continually renews and rumples the surface. If Earth were perfectly smooth, it would be covered everywhere with water to a depth of four kilometers. There might be life in that lonesome ocean, but there certainly would not be football! In addition to having a beneficial interior, we also have the right elements in the correct proportions. In the most literal way we are made of the right stuff.

Twin planet:

The third important factor is that we are a twin planet as our Moon is comparable in size unlike most of the other moons that are tiny in relation to their master planet. We now believe that about 4.5 billion years ago a Mars sized object slammed into Earth, blowing out enough material to create the Moon from the debris. This made a big difference to us as our Moon is having steadying influence without which the Earth would wobble like a dying top, with unpredictable consequences for climate and weather. The Moon’s steady gravitational influence keeps the Earth spinning at the right speed and angle to provide the sort of stability necessary for the long and successful development of life.

Timing:

Timing is the fourth factor as unimaginable events happened in a long and complex sequence stretching back to 4.6 billion years. The universe is an amazingly fickle and eventful place and our existence within it is a wonder. If some of those events had not happened, like for instance if the dinosaurs had not been wiped out by a meteor when they were – you might well be six inches long, with whiskers and a tail, and reading this in a burrow! We do not really know for sure because we have nothing else to compare our existence to. But it seems evident that if you wish to end up as a moderately advanced thinking society, you need to be at the right end of a very long chain of outcomes involving responsible periods of stability interspersed with just the right amount of stress and challenge and marked by a total absence of a real cataclysm. We are very lucky to find ourselves in that position!

Earth with perfect atmospheric propertiesThe atmosphere of the earth holds the most appropriate gasses in the most appropriate ratio needed for the survival not only of human beings, but also of all the living beings on the earth.

Water – The mainstay of life

Atmosphere:

Thank goodness for the atmosphere, it keeps us warm! Without it, Earth would be a lifeless ball of ice with an average temperature of minus 60 degree Fahrenheit. In addition, the atmosphere absorbs or deflects incoming swarms of cosmic rays, charged particles, ultraviolet rays and the like. Altogether the gaseous paddling of the atmosphere is equivalent to a fifteen foot thickness of protective concrete and without it these invisible visitors from space would slice through us like tiny daggers. Even rainfall would pound us senseless if it were not for the atmosphere’s slowing drag. The most striking thing about our atmosphere is that there isn’t very much of it. It extends upwards for about 120 miles, which might seem reasonably bounteous when viewed from ground level, but if you shrank the Earth to the size of a standard desktop globe it would only be about the thickness of couple of coats of varnish!

Water:

Our planet is dominated by water and life, as we know it, depends upon water. Water is a good solvent that can dissolve a wide range of substances, an efficient thermal conductor, has remarkable surface tension and very importantly, water expands on freezing into ice, and the ice floats on top of the water! If ice sank when it froze, the way solids “ought” to when freezing out from the liquid form of the same substance, then in the winter ice would settle at the bottom of lakes and oceans and not on the surface. The water would lose energy and eventually ice would build up to freeze everything and there would be no marine life. But ice floats, and forms a protective cover, keeping warm the water below, stopping evaporation, and serving as an insulator. From his various studies of water and other substances, Henderson concluded “The biologist may now rightly regard the universe in its very essence as biocentric.”

Spiral representation of the history of life on Earth (click to enlarge)

The third miracle: Evolution of life from microbes to humans:

How do you and me come to exist?

Bill Bryson in his book “A Short History of Nearly Everything“ described the Earth’s history in the following way:

If you imagine the 4.5 billion odd years of Earth‘s history compressed into a normal earthly day, then life begins very early about 4 AM, with the rise of first simple single-celled organisms but then advances no further for the next sixteen hours. Not until almost 8:30 in the evening, with the day five sixths over, had Earth anything to show the universe but a restless skin of microbes. Then, finally the first sea plants appear followed twenty minutes later by the first jelly fish and the enigmatic Ediacaran fauna first seen by Reginald Sprigg in Australia.

At 9:04 PM, trilobites swim onto the scene followed more or less immediately by the shapely creatures of Burgess Shale. Just before 10 PM plants begin to pop up on the land. Soon after with less than two hours left in the day the first land creatures follow. Thanks to ten minutes or so of balmy weather by 10:24 the Earth is covered in the great carboniferous forests whose residues give us all our coal, and the first winged insects are evident. Dinosaurs plod onto the scene just before 11 PM and hold sway for about three quarters of an hour. At twenty one minutes to midnight they vanish and the age of mammals begins. Humans emerge one minute and seventeen seconds before midnight!

The whole of our recorded history, on this scale would be no more than a few seconds, a single human life barely an instant. Perhaps an even more effective way of grasping our extreme recentness as part of this 4.5 billion year old picture is to stretch your arms to their fullest length and imagine the width as the entire history of Earth. On this scale, according to John Macphee in Basin and Range, the distance from the fingertips of one hand to the wrist of other is Preambrian. All of complex life in one hand and in a single stroke with a medium grained nail-file you could eradicate human history!

The rise of oxygen is one of the biggest puzzles in Earth’s history. Our planet’s atmosphere started out oxygen-free. Then, around 3.5 billion years ago, tiny microbes called cyanobacteria (or blue-green algae) learned out to carry out photosynthesis. They began using energy from sunlight to make their food from carbon dioxide and water, giving off oxygen as waste.

The rise of oxygen

Everything that has ever lived, plant or animal dates its beginnings from the same primordial twitch which resulted in an organism that cleaved itself and produced a heir. We may like to call them microbes or bacterial organisms which remained the only form of life for nearly two billion years. At some point in the first billion years of life, cyanobacteria or blue-green algae learned to tap into a freely available resource – the hydrogen that exists in spectacular abundance in water. They absorbed water molecules, supped on the hydrogen, and released oxygen as waste and in so doing invented photosynthesis. As Margulis and Sagan note, photosynthesis is undoubtedly the most important single metabolic innovation in the history of life on the planet and it was not by plants but by bacteria.

About 3.5 billion years ago, visible structures began to appear wherever the seas were shallow. As they went through their chemical routines, the cyanobacteria became very slightly tacky and trapped micro particles of sand and dust which came together to form slightly weird but solid structures - the stromatolites. Stromatolites came in various shapes and sizes and they looked like enormous cauliflowers, fluffy mattresses and sometimes they came in the form of columns, rising tens of meters above the surface of the water. In all their manifestations, they were a kind of living rock and they represented the world’s first cooperative venture with some varieties of primitive organism living just at the surface and others living just underneath, each taking advantage of conditions created by the other and the world had its first ecosystem.

In 1961 scientists discovered a community of living stromatolites, living remnants of earth as it was 3.5 billion yeas ago at Shark Bay on the remote northwest coast of Australia. As Richard Fortey has put it: “This is truly time travelling and if the world were attuned to its real wonders this sight would be as well known as the pyramids of Giza”. In two billion years such tiny exertions of oxygen from these organisms raised the level of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere to 20 percent preparing for the next, more complex chapter in history of life.

How endosymbiosis changed the life on Earth? When one organism actually lives inside the other it's called endosymbiosis. The endosymbiotic theory describes how a large host cell and ingested bacteria could easily become dependent on one another for survival, resulting in a permanent relationship.

Endosymbiotic theory

It took quiet a long time for life to grow complex as the world had to wait until the simpler organisms had oxygenated the atmosphere sufficiently. It took about two billion years for oxygen levels to reach more or less modern levels of concentration in the atmosphere. But once the stage was set and apparently quite suddenly, an entirely new type of cell arose - one with a nucleus and other little bodies collectively called organelles – from a Greek word meaning “little tools”. The process is thought to have started when some blundering or adventuresome bacterium either invaded or captured by some other bacterium and it turned out that it suited them both. The captive bacterium became, it is thought a mitochondrion. This mitochondrial invasion or endosymbiotic event as biologists like to term it made complex life possible. In plants a similar invasion produced chloroplasts which enable plants to photosynthesize.

Mitochondria manipulate oxygen in a way that liberates energy from foodstuffs. Without this niftily facilitating trick, life on Earth today would be nothing more than a sludge of simple microbes. Mitochondria are very tiny - you could pack a billion into the space occupied by a grain of sand – and also very hungry. Every nutrient we absorb goes to feeding them and we can not live for two minutes without them and yet even after a billion years mitochondria behave as if they think things might not work out between us. They maintain their own DNA and they reproduce at a different time from their host cell. They do not even speak the same genetic language as the cell in which they live. It is like having a stranger in your house but one who has been there for a billion years!

Eukaryotic evolution The complex eukaryotic cell ushered in a whole new era for life on Earth, because these cells evolved into multicellular organisms.

Emergence of complex life

The new type of cell is known as eukaryote, meaning “truly nucleated” as contrasted with the old type which is known as prokaryote (pre-nucleated ) and it seems to have arrived suddenly in the fossil record. Eukaryotes were bigger - eventually as much as ten thousand times bigger than their simpler cousins and carried as much as a thousand times more DNA. Gradually a system evolved in which life was dominated by two types of organisms - those that expel oxygen like plants and those that take oxygen in like you and me.

Single celled eukaryotes were once called protozoa (pre-animals) or protists. Compared with the bacteria that had gone before, these new protists were wonders of design and sophistication. The simple amoeba, just one cell big and without any ambition but to exist, contains 400 million bits of genetic information in its DNA – enough (as Carl Sagan noted) to fill eighty books of five hundred pages! Eventually the eukaryotes learned an even more singular trick which took a long time – a billion years or so to master but it was a good one. They learned to form together into complex multi-cellular beings. Thanks to this innovation, big, complicated, visible entities like us were possible. Planet Earth was ready to move on to its next ambitious phase and by about 30,000 years ago, we the Homo sapiens arrived on this Planet Earth.

Each of us is a universe of our living cells Cells know exactly what to do - to preserve and nurture you from the moment of conception to your last breath.

The fourth miracle: The incredible cell which keeps you alive

You started life as a single cell - a fertilized egg containing your genes, half from your mother, and half from your father. Your personal body plan is written in your genes and to make a new person, a fertilized egg has to divide - making first two, then four, eight and eventually trillions of cells! After just forty seven doublings you have ten thousand trillion cells in your body and are ready to spring forth as a human being. And every one of those cells knows exactly what to do to preserve and nurture you from the moment of conception to your last breath. You have no secrets from your cells and they know far more about you than you do.

The human body contains nearly 100 trillion cells and all of them are working in harmony with each other. Your body is made up of about 200 different types of cells, all of them working together, day and night and each one of them must make the molecules it needs to survive, grow, multiply and do its job. At the center of the cell is the nucleus, which contains a copy of your genes, the instructions for making proteins. Each cell carries a copy of the complete genetic code – the “instruction manual” for your body. So it knows not only how to do its job but every other job in the body. Never in your life will you have to remind a cell to keep an eye on its adenosine tri phosphate levels or to find a place for the extra squirt of folic acid that has just unexpectedly turned up. It will do that for you and million more things.

Every cell in nature is a thing of wonder and even the simplest are far beyond the limits of human ingenuity. Your cells are a country of ten thousand trillion citizens, each devoted in some intensively specific way to your overall well being. There is not a thing they do not do for you. They let you feel pleasure and form thoughts. When you eat, they extract the nutrients, distribute the energy and carry off the wastes. They also remember to make you hungry in the first place and reward you with a feeling of well‐being afterward so that you won't forget to eat again. They will jump to your defense the moment you are threatened and they will unhesitatingly die for you - billions of them so daily. So let us take a moment now to regard them with the wonder and appreciation they deserve and thank each one of them .

Incredible feats of cells in human body Nitric oxide is considered as superhero of our body. It helps dilate blood vessels, supports a healthy heart, boosts brain power, regulates digestion and many more. Protein synthesis remains entirely beyond the powers of our imagination owing to the incredible speed with protein production.

Hemoglobin picks up oxygen in the lungs and delivers oxygen to the tissues to maintain cellular viability. The oxygen is taken up by the mitochondria which are cell's power stations.

Surprises at the cellular level

We understand a little of how cells do the things they do - as surprises at the cellular level turn up all the time. In nature, nitric oxide is a formidable toxin but then scientists found it as an ubiquitous elixir, being produced in a curiously devoted manner in human cells - controlling the flow of blood and the energy levels of cells, attacking cancers and other pathogens and even regulating the smell. It is also explained why nitroglycerine, the well known explosive soothes the heart pain known as angina. It is converted into nitric oxide in the blood stream relaxing the muscle linings of vessels allowing blood to flow more freely.

The cells vary enormously in size and shape: from nerve cells, whose filaments can stretch to several feet, to tiny disc shaped red blood cells to the rod shaped photocells that help to give us vision. On an average, however a human cell is about twenty microns wide - that is about two hundredths of a millimeter which is too small to be seen but roomy enough to hold thousands of complicated structures like mitochondria and millions upon millions of molecules. The millions and millions of occupants in that tiny cell, especially the lively proteins (about 100 million in each cell) would be spinning, pulsating and flying into each other up to a billion times a second. Enzymes, themselves a type of protein dash everywhere, performing up to a thousand tasks a second, busily building and rebuilding molecules with inconceivable frenzy. As de Duve notes "The molecular world must necessarily remain entirely beyond the powers of our imagination owing to the incredible speed with which things happen in it".

It is all an immensely demanding process to keep all the trillions of cells freshly oxygenated. Your heart must pump 75 gallons of blood an hour, 1800 gallons every day, 67500 gallons in a year that is enough to fill four Olympic sized swimming pools to do this! The oxygen is taken up by the mitochondria which are cell's “power stations” and there are about a thousand of them in a typical cell. Mitochondria convert food and oxygen you take into a molecule called adenosine tri phosphate (ATP) which keeps you going. ATP molecules are essentially little “battery packs” that move through the cell providing energy for all the cell's processes and at any given moment, a typical cell in your body will have about one billion ATP molecules.

It's important to kill off cells that are no longer needed.

Hormones – Couriers of the bodyThe role of neurotransmitter dopamine is in movement and cognition. Leptin plays a pivotal role in the sensation of hunger. Adrenal gland releases aldosterone, cortisol, androgens and catecholamines such as adrenaline.

Apoptosis

Most living cells seldom last more than a month with the exception of liver cells and brain cells. The individual components of liver cells and brain cells however are constantly renewed. So at the cellular level we are all youngsters as most of us are continuously replenished with new cells. When cells are no longer needed, they die with what can only be called “great dignity”. They take down all the struts and buttresses that hold them together and quietly devour their component parts. The process is known as apoptosis or “programmed cell death”. ((Read here: Plant apoptosis)). Every day billions of your cells die for your benefit and billions of others clean up the mess. If cell fails to expire in the prescribed manner, but rather begins to divide and proliferate wildly, we call the result cancer. The body has elaborate mechanisms for dealing with it and it is only very rarely that the process spirals out of control. On average, humans suffer one fatal malignancy for each 100 million billion cell divisions. Cancer is “bad luck” in every possible sense of the term.

Hormones keep the body well-coordinated: The wonder of cells is that they see to it that nothing goes wrong by constantly sending and monitoring streams of messages. Most of these signals arrive by means of “couriers” called hormones. The hormones such as insulin, adrenaline, dopamine, estrogen, leptin, oxytocin, renin, cortisol and many others convey information from thyroid and endocrine glands. Messages also arrive from the brain or from regional centers in a process called “paracrine signaling”. Finally, cells communicate directly with their neighbors to make sure their actions are coordinated. Trillions upon trillions of reflexive chemical reactions add up to a mobile, thinking, decision making and hence you are a wonder of “atomic engineering”.

Flawless protein synthesisThe information stored in DNA is used to direct the synthesis of the thousands of proteins that each cell requires.

Proteins – Building blocks of life

Proteins are the “work-horses” of all living systems; as many as a hundred million of them may be busy in any cell at any moment, each unique and each as far as we know vital to the maintenance of a sound and happy you. Proteins are what you get when you string amino acids together and we need a lot of them. Each one of them is a little miracle: as to make a protein we need to assemble amino acids not only in the right sequence but then must engage in a “chemical origami” and fold itself into a very specific shape. We need DNA to make proteins and both of them including other components of life could not prosper without some sort of membrane to contain them. It is only when they come together within the nurturing refuge of a cell that these diverse materials can take part in the amazing dance that we call life.

As the physicist Paul Davies puts it ‘If everything needs everything else, how did the community of molecules ever arise in the first place?’ It is rather as if all the ingredients in your kitchen somehow got together and baked themselves into a cake - a cake that could moreover divide when necessary to produce more cakes. It is little wonder that we call it the miracle of life!

A cell makes proteins by joining together amino acids into long chains and in the right order, a phenomenon known as protein synthesis. As they are made, the chains begin to take on their complex shapes. Scientists have worked out the 3D shapes of many human proteins. All proteins are made up of combinations of 20 different amino acids. First, it makes a copy of the relevant DNA instruction in the cell nucleus, and takes it into the cytoplasm. Once in the cytoplasm, the mRNA is snatched up by tiny protein-assembly machines called ribosomes. Each ribosome works its way along the mRNA, reading the code from 'start' to 'stop', selecting the correct amino acid building blocks and ejecting a growing protein. A cell can assemble a small protein like insulin in just a few seconds.

Growth occurs through cell division The cells multiply and grow through a process called mitosis. Before a cell can divide, it must unravel its chromosomes and copy all its DNA, so that each new cell will get a complete copy.

Cell recognition is also vital for keeping cells from the same organ or tissue together.

Cell growth

The cell cycle is made up of stages in which the cell grows and rests, copies its DNA, and divides into two new cells. The cells multiply and grow through a process called mitosis. Before a cell can divide, it must unravel its chromosomes and copy all its DNA, so that each new cell will get a complete copy. After copying its DNA, a cell normally divides into two new cells. Each new cell gets a complete copy of all the DNA, bundled up as 46 chromosomes. Cells that are making egg or sperm cells divide in a different way as they end up with only half the amount of DNA present in the original cell, bundled up as 23 chromosomes. This special way of dividing is called meiosis. The life cycle of every cell is carefully controlled, so you should always have just the right number of each type of cell. All the different cells of your body usually live, grow and divide in harmony. Your body has many different signals that control how much, and how often your cells divide. If any of these signals are faulty or missing, the result can be cancer, where too many cells are produced.

A cell can die through a programmed self-destruction, or apoptosis and it seems that cells often choose to kill themselves. We now know that “controlled cell death” is crucial for normal human development and good health throughout life. As you grew in your mother's womb, apoptosis was vital for your early development. When your brain was developing, more than half of its early nerve cells sacrificed themselves. It is also crucial for a healthy immune system: apoptosis weeds out ineffective white blood cells. The death of a cell is just as carefully controlled as its life - as a failure in apoptosis could lead to cancer. Excessive apoptosis could cause wasting away as in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases.

All the cells that make up your body recognize each other as belonging to you as 'self'. Any invaders, such as bacteria and viruses - 'non-self' - are immediately detected by your immune system and destroyed. Cell recognition is also vital for keeping cells from the same organ or tissue together. Each of your cells has a set of 'identity tags' on its surface, which mark it out as part of your body and no one else's. Some are only found on cells from the same tissue or organ. These identity tag molecules are called antigens. Your set of antigens is unique, unless you have an identical twin. Your immune system recognizes invading germs because they have unfamiliar antigens on their surfaces.

Fusion of gametes to initiate the development of a new individual

Stages from zygote to blastulaAn early embryonic form produced by cleavage of a fertilized ovum andconsisting of a spherical layer of cells surrounding a fluid filledcavity.

The fifth miracle: Transformation of a single cell into a baby

Life started when a sperm from your father fertilized one of your mother's eggs. About nine months later you were born: a mass of billions of cells! When a sperm cell enters the mother's egg cell, the resulting cell is called a zygote. The zygote contains all of the genetic information (DNA) needed to become a baby. The zygote, which possesses half the DNA of each of its two parents will begin to divide by mitosis to produce a multi-cellular organism resulting in an embryo. It spends the next few days traveling down the Fallopian tube and divides to form a ball of cells. The zygote continues to divide, creating an inner group of cells with an outer shell. This stage is called a blastocyst. The inner group of cells will become the embryo, while the outer group of cells will become the membranes that nourish and protect it. The blastocyst reaches the womb uterus around day 5, and implants into the uterine wall on about day 6.

The blastocyst sticks tightly to the lining, where it receives nourishment via the mother's bloodstream. At 12 days, the embryo is still just a clump of around a couple of thousand cells. The different parts of its body do not start to grow until after the first two weeks. Now completely embedded into the wall of the womb, some cells are starting to form the placenta, which will bring the mother's blood vessels right alongside those of the baby. These cells begin to produce a hormone, which can be detected by a pregnancy test. At this point in the mother's menstrual cycle, the lining of the uterus has grown and is ready to support a baby. The cells of the embryo now multiply and begin to take on specific functions. This process is called “differentiation” which leads to various types of cells such as blood cells, nerve cells and kidney cells. It takes just 38 weeks for a fertilized egg to grow into a baby. It is called an embryo until about eight weeks after fertilization and from then it is instead called a fetus. The development of the embryo is called embryogenesis.

The placenta - the embryo's life-support system.

Development of myogenesis and neurogenesisDuring 6th week to 8th week, myogenesis and neurogenesis progress so that the embryo is capable of motion, and the eyes begin to form.

Beginning of morphogenesis

During the first week after fertilization, the blastocyst attaches to the wall of the uterus (endometrium). This results in forming connections between the mother and the embryo including the umbilical cord. During the next couple of weeks the embryo's growth centers around an axis, which will become the spine and spinal cord and the body parts like brain, spinal cord, heart, and gastrointestinal tract begin to form. Three weeks after fertilization, the different parts of the embryo start to form. Three layers of cells form, out of which all the different organs of the body will develop. Two folds grow along the length of the embryo - these roll up to make the neural tube which eventually becomes the brain and spinal cord. The placenta - the embryo's life-support system - starts to work, delivering nourishment and taking waste products away.

Chemicals produced by the embryo stop the woman's menstrual cycle. Neurogenesis is underway, showing brain activity at about the 6th week. The heart will begin to beat around the same time. Limb buds appear where arms and legs will grow later. Organogenesis begins. During 6th week to 8th week myogenesis and neurogenesis progress so that the embryo is capable of motion, and the eyes begin to form. Organogenesis and growth continue. Hair has started to form along with all essential organs. Facial features are beginning to develop. The head represents about one half of the embryo's axial length, and more than half of the embryo's mass. The brain develops into five areas. Tissue formation occurs that develops into the vertebra and some other bones. The heart starts to beat and blood starts to flow. (Read Plant morphogenesis and animal morphogenesis here)

End of the embryonic stage and beginning of fetal stage

Fetal stage

By the end of the 8th week (10th week of pregnancy), the embryonic stage is over, and the fetal stage begins. All the different parts of the body are in place. Fingers and toes form - the embryo now has unique fingerprints. Its head is still very large compared to its body - almost half its length. The brain is growing at about 100,000 new brain cells every minute. Protected by the amniotic fluid, the fetus can move around and flex its limbs. The growth continues and by end of 12th week, it can hear sounds and its skin is sensitive to touch. The fetus grows very quickly during weeks 13 to 16 - doubling in size from 5 to 10 cm. The face starts to form, and by 14 weeks the eyes can move. The eyelids stay closed until the final two months of pregnancy. Now that the internal organs are in their final positions, the bones begin to harden, although they remain flexible until after the baby has been born.

By 20 weeks, the mother can feel the fetus move. It has eyebrows and hair on its head. Its entire body is covered in fine, downy hair. A greasy substance called vernix protects the skin. The fetus practices swallowing and digesting fluid, and can even tell sweet tastes from bitter ones! An ultrasound scan may now reveal whether the fetus is a boy or a girl. During the second half of pregnancy, the fetus becomes increasingly aware of the world outside. It is startled by sudden noises, and is thought to be capable of feeling pain after 5-6 months. Rapid eye movements, associated with dreaming sleep in adults, begin at 21 weeks. The fetus looks transparent, as it doesn't yet have any fat under its skin.

By 34 weeks, most babies have their heads downwards, ready for birth.

Stage of birth

By 26 weeks, the lungs are ready to breathe air. The brain has developed enough to control breathing and body temperature to some extent. So from now on, the fetus stands a good chance of surviving even if it's born early. It has eyelashes and fingernails. It appears less wrinkled, as more and more fat is laid down under the skin.

The baby's skin is now pink and smooth, and its arms and legs are fatter. The eyes have opened, and by 30 weeks the pupils will dilate and contract in response to light. The mother may feel the baby hiccuping, after it has swallowed too much amniotic fluid. By 34 weeks, most babies have their heads downwards, ready for birth. The baby continues to put on weight, reaching an average of 3.4 kilograms by 38 weeks. It is outgrowing the womb, and starts the birth off by releasing hormones. The muscles of the mother's womb start to contract, and labor begins. Most babies are born within ten days of their due date.

XY chromosomes are involved in sex determination To be genetically female, one needs to be (XX), whereas to be a genetic male, (XY) is needed.

Boy or a Girl?

Half of your genes come from your father and half come from your mother. They are bundled up as a set of 46 chromosomes. One pair of these, the sex chromosomes, determines what sex you are. An embryo with one X-chromosome and one Y-chromosome will be a boy, and one with two X-chromosomes will be a girl. The presence of a Y-chromosome turns on a 'male switch' in the developing embryo. In a seven-week-old embryo, the sex glands and organs of males and females appear identical. In male embryos, the testis determining factor gene, called SRY, is then switched on. This 'male gene', found on the Y-chromosome, triggers male development in all mammals and causes the testes and male external genitals to start to grow. In a female embryo, there is no Y-chromosome and no SRY gene, allowing the ovaries and female external genitals to develop. Other genes are also involved in sex determination.

Master genes control basic body plans The development of an organism - from a fertilized egg, through embryonic and juvenile stages, to adulthood - requires the coordinated expression of sets of genes at the proper times and in the proper places.

How do your organs develop?

Once the embryo has its basic body plan, it adds the details. Limbs and organs grow between the fourth and eighth weeks of development. To form a new body part, an area in the embryo is first marked out. Control genes then instruct the cells in this area what to do, for example, 'become part of an arm'. Cells pass on these messages to their neighbors.

All limbs begin as limb buds - tiny bumps that are visible from about the fourth week. To grow a new limb, the cells in the limb bud have to know two things: the position of the limb in space, and where to grow bone, muscle and tendons. To grow an arm, for example, the cells must be able to tell apart the shoulder and hand end, the thumb and little finger side, and the palm and knuckle side. The limb, like the rest of the body, is three dimensional. Cells are told which part of the limb to form by a combination of chemical signals slowly flowing along each axis - shoulder to hand, left to right and front to back - so that each cell gets a 3D grid reference of its location. It seems that an efficient way of marking out the body plan arose millions of years ago, and has remained virtually unchanged throughout animal evolution.

No two individuals are genetically identical

The sixth miracle: All life is one, most of the genes are same and yet You are unique

How do you become you?

Your DNA and the genes in your DNA affect the way you look, your health, and the way your body works. Both your environment and your genes influence the person you become. In the most literal and fundamental sense we are all family as we share our ancestors and most of us are related in some way or other. If you compare your genes with any other human being’s they will be about 99.9 percent the same. The tiny differences in that remaining 0.1 percent – roughly one nucleotide base in every thousand – are what endow us with our individuality. It is the endless combination of our genomes – each nearly identical but not quite-that makes us what we are, both as individuals and as species.

Inside the cell is a nucleus, and inside each nucleus are the forty six little bundles of complex chromosomes. With a very few exceptions, every cell in your body – 99.999 percent of them carries the same complement of chromosomes. The exceptions are red blood cells, some immune system cells, egg and sperm cells which for various organizational reasons do not carry the full genetic package. Chromosomes constitute the complete set of instructions necessary to make and maintain you and are made of long strands of the little wonder chemical called deoxyribonucleic acid or DNA – the most extraordinary molecule on Earth! The shape of a DNA molecule is rather like a spiral staircase or twisted rope ladder: the famous double helix. The uprights of this structure are made of a type of sugar called deoxyribose and the whole of the helix is a nucleic acid – hence the name deoxyribonucleic acid.

The DNA in the nucleus of human cell, a complex bio‐molecule that defines you, measures about 2 yards which means there would be 125 billion miles of DNA in your physical body. Your own DNA then if uncoiled could wrap around the earth 5 million times and that string could stretch to the sun and back 400 times!! The instructions for the building of proteins are coded in the language of the DNA. The DNA relies on the protein to rebuild the DNA using the data stored in the DNA itself.

DNA is squeezed inside the nucleusYou may have as much as twenty million kilometers of DNA bundled up inside you.

DNA - the most extraordinary molecule on Earth

DNA exists for one reason – to create more DNA! And you have a lot of it inside you: about six feet of it squeezed into almost every cell nucleus which has a diameter of just five-thousandths of a millimeter. Each length of DNA comprises some 3.2 billion letters of coding, enough to provide 10 to the power of 3,480,000,000 possible combinations, guaranteed to be unique against all conceivable odds, in the words of Christian de Duve. That is a lot of possibility – a one followed by more than 3 billion zeros! It would take more than five thousand average sized books to print that figure. Look at yourself in the mirror and reflect upon the fact that you are beholding ten thousand trillion cells and almost every one of those holds two yards of densely compacted DNA, and you begin to appreciate just how much of this stuff you carry around with you. If all your DNA were woven into a single fine strand, there would be enough of it to stretch from the Earth to the Moon and back not once or twice but again and again! Altogether according to one calculation, you may have as much as twenty million kilometers of DNA bundled up inside you. Your body, in short, loves to make DNA and without it you could not live.

Genes are the instruction manuals for the body A phenotype results from the expression of an organism's genes as well as the influence of environmental factors and the interactions between the two.

Genes define you

Genes are pieces of DNA - a code that sets down the order of the amino acids in a protein. Although all cells have the same genes, they only use the instructions they need, for example only a muscle cell makes muscle proteins. Genes are instructions to make proteins and putting all these genes together you have the great symphony of existence known as the human genome. An alternative and more common way to regard the genome is as a kind of ‘instruction manual’ for the body. The genome, as Eric Lander of MIT has put it, is like a ‘parts list’ for the human body: it tells us what we are made of, but says nothing about how we work. What is needed now is the ‘operating manual’ - instructions for how to make it go. We are not close to that point yet.

Your genes are unique – unless you have an identical twin. Half of your genes are from your mother, the other half are from your father. Each pair of genes provides two versions of the same instruction – these are called alleles. A newly fertilized egg usually has 46 chromosomes, arranged in 23 pairs. One pair of these chromosomes decides whether the embryo will grow into a boy or a girl: the sex chromosomes, X and Y – named after their shapes. A fertilized egg with two X-chromosomes will grow into a girl, and one with one X and one Y will grow into a boy. A gene called SRY on the Y-chromosome makes a male body develop when switched on at the early stages of embryonic development. Without this gene, the embryo will automatically develop as a female. A newly discovered gene called FOXL2 is also involved in creating females.

DNA gets mutated and even repaired by our own bodyYour cells have a very efficient DNA repair system which is constantly scanning your DNA.

DNA mutations

Genetic conditions are caused by DNA mutations that cause a change in one of the genes affecting the way the body works or develops. Some genetic conditions cause health problems while others may be beneficial. Your cells have a very efficient DNA repair system which is constantly scanning your DNA. And there are mainly two types of repair systems: one for removing and replacing a single base-pair mutation, and another for removing long stretches of unwanted, extra base pairs. The protein BRCA1 helps repair DNA.

You have 6000 million base pairs of DNA in almost every one of your cells, but only about 3% of it makes up genes. Of the remaining 97%, some helps keep the DNA bound together. Scientists used to call this ‘junk DNA’. Now they have found that much non-coding DNA has essential roles such as controlling the activity of genes. Nearly every cell in your body contains the same set of around 24,000 genes. The reason that your bone cells are different from your brain cells is that they use different genes. So how does each cell know which of its genes to switch on or off? Epigenetics appears to be the answer. Epigenetic mechanisms involve adding chemical tags to DNA or the proteins it is wrapped around. Changes to the cell’s environment cause the chemical tags to be added or removed. These epigenetic markers are passed on to daughter cells when the original cell divides in two. Scientists have started mapping the epigenome – all the chemical modifications to the DNA and its protein scaffolding that are used to switch genes on and off throughout an organism’s life.

We inherit two copies of each of our genes – one from each parent. In most cases both of the genes in a pair are active. But about 60 of our genes are selectively expressed. This means that only one of the pair of genes, from one of your parents, is active. Somehow the cells in your body ‘know’ which parent these genes came from. This ‘genetic imprinting’ seems to involve adding chemical tags – called methyl groups – to the DNA chain. Scientists are still uncovering why certain genes are imprinted in this way and others are not.

Genes control the body plan Genes are regulated, allowing a cell to make the right amount of protein, just at the time when it is needed.

Gene regulation

Each new cell in the growing embryo receives a full set of genes and each cell must end up in the right place, doing the right job. The fate of a particular cell depends on its location, the instructions it receives from other cells and those it receives from its own genes. The same instruction can sometimes affect different cells in different ways. Some genes are instructions for proteins that regulate the activity of other genes. Such 'control genes' govern important events in the developing embryo. Your body needs to make some proteins throughout your life whereas others are only needed at certain times. So all genes are regulated, allowing a cell to make the right amount of protein, just at the time when it is needed. Proteins made by a particular cell depend on where it is in the embryo, how old the embryo is, and the instructions it receives from its own genes and from other cells.

The genes make sure the correct body parts grow in the right place, for example your head at the top of your body and feet at the bottom. Although your body looks roughly symmetrical from the outside, most of your inside is asymmetrical. For example, your heart is towards the left side of your body. So the embryo must know its left from its right before the organs start to grow and genes control this. The cells have different functions and a furrow through the middle, the primitive streak, marks out a 3D body plan. The cells form three layers: The outer layer (ectoderm) grows into skin, brain and nerves. The middle layer (mesoderm) grows into muscle, blood vessels, bones and many of the organs. The inner layer (endoderm) grows into the gut, stomach and lungs. To start shaping the body, the flat, disc-shaped embryo undergoes many complicated changes. The three layers of cells rearrange to form the structures that will eventually make all the different parts of the body. A temporary ‘scaffolding’ grows in the center (the notochord). Above it, the neural tube develops - a structure that will eventually form the brain and spinal cord.

Hox genes - Master regulators in embryonic development They decide what body parts go where. Not surprisingly, if something goes wrong with these genes, the results can be disastrous.

Hox genes

Hox (Hoemeotic) genes are 'master switches', which themselves switch other genes on and off. They answered the long bewildering question of how billions of embryonic cells, all arising from a single fertilized egg and carrying identical DNA know where to go and what to do – that this one should become a liver cell, this one a stretchy neuron, this one a bubble of blood, this one part of the shimmer on a beating wing. Hox genes are like a clutch of master control genes, each directing the development of a section of the body and they do it for all organisms in much the same way.

An early animal embryo is divided up into blocks, each controlled by Hox genes. These blocks, called somites, later form the body and limb muscles, ribs and backbone. Hox genes make ‘chemical signals’, which affect cells in different parts of the embryo in different ways. Once it knows where it is, each cell in the embryo starts to form the correct body part. Each Hox gene is switched on in a particular place, along the body of the developing embryo. So cells get different combinations of chemical signals, to know exactly where it is in the developing embryo.

The incredible human body Every routine breath, step and heartbeat requires a brilliantly designed inner system of instruments, engines, circuitry and software. Hence, marvelous in its mechanics.

The seventh miracle: Your body and your brain

Your body integrates a number of biological systems that carry out specific functions necessary for everyday living. The human body is a marvel of bio-mechanical engineering. The harmony among the interconnected systems is like a symphony producing the works of Mozart or Beethoven with all individual systems and organs working in concert. The body creates new cells to replace dying cells, to maintain itself, to defend itself, and to repair itself. Cells join together to make up tissues (epithelial, connective, muscles, and nerves), tissues unite to form organs, and organs work together as an organ system. Each one of those organs does amazing things. Your eyes, for example are very sensitive and on a very clear night can find the galaxy of Andromeda which is about 2.5 million light years away – an inconceivable distance indeed. When the photons of light that hit your eye began their journey, there were no human beings; we were yet to evolve and you are looking back in time through 2.5 million years!

Metabolism and Homeostasis are the two important functions the body performs to sustain our life. Each of these functions can be performed effectively only if all the constituent biological systems work in harmony. The body does every thing that is required to be done 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week to deliver the right molecules in the right amount, to the right place and at the right time to make sure you maintain the balance. You do not have to consciously direct this and every thing happens on its own most of the time.

Multitude of systems work together to accomplish a task yet we remain oblivious to it Movement scientists refer to body coordination as motor coordination, a term that describes the interactions between your muscular, skeletal and nervous systems and many more involuntary actions. Clear communication between these systems creates coordinated movements.

Body coordination

Each one of those organs does amazing things. Your eyes, for example are very sensitive and can detect just a few photons of light. If you take a look on a very clear night you may find the constellation of Andromeda which is the nearest galaxy to our own Milky Way. The distance is about 2.5 million light years away which is like an inconceivable distance. When the photons of light that hit your eye began their journey, there were no human beings; we were yet to evolve and you are looking back in time through 2.5m years.

Within your body there is on call 24 hours a day, and 7 days a week both a physician and a pharmacist. The physician determines the need and prescribes the cure. The pharmacist fills the prescription and delivers the needed substances in the right amount to the right place at the right time. Your body is capable of creating all the medicines it needs to enjoy optimal health. This takes place without your notice, direction, or knowledge most of the time. Your body functions automatically working toward achieving and maintaining optimal health unless we deprive it of good natural foods, plenty of good drinking water, pure air to breathe, exercise, and a harmonious environment.

Human body is a testimony to the incredible engineering prowess of the mother nature. Millions and trillions of tiny components inside the body act in perfect unison to realize a larger goal. It is like a “very well-choreographed balley” where each one in the play knows as to what his or her role is and when he needs to spring into action for the other person's act to be consummated. Imagine how many things are at play one needs to balance the ball on his/her head? Timing and location of the ball to let it not slip off the head, balancing act to position oneself correctly, if we consider juggler even eyes are focused on the ball to track its movement etc. So many things are being done in parallel – the nervous system, muscular system, skeletal system, respiratory system, endocrine system (release of stress hormones - cortisol), and the involuntary systems like respiratory system, digestive system and cardiovascular systems and yet we remain completely oblivious to it. Many of such complex processes are at play in every act that we make consciously or subconsciously until there is a last ounce of life in one.

How does the food we eat become the energy we need to grow and move? All parts of the body (muscles, brain, heart, and liver) need energy to work. This energy comes from the food we eat. It happens due to some sequential biochemical phenomenon known as metabolism.

How does the body produce energy?

The word "metabolism" comes from the Greek noun metabole, meaning "change". Metabolism provides energy required to sustain life through a sequence of biochemical reactions that take place in trillions of cells of our body. When we eat food, the digestive system produces the nutrients which are absorbed by the cells. The metabolism of these nutrients yield energy and also contribute to the enzyme activity that supports metabolic reactions in the cell. Metabolic reactions that take place within your body can be categorized as anabolic and catabolic reactions. Anabolic reactions consume energy to combine different molecules where as catabolic reactions release energy while splitting molecules apart. The energy stored in ATP created by catabolic reactions is the fuel for anabolic reactions which synthesize hormones, enzymes, sugars and other substances for cell growth, reproduction, and tissue repair.

The endocrine system stimulates reactions of metabolism by releasing hormones like cortisol, glucagon and adrenaline; digestive system provides nutrients; cardio vascular system transports nutrients through blood; respiratory system provides oxygen and excretory system eliminates waste. So metabolism which is the most important function in maintaining life can happen only with perfect coordination of all other systems in the body.

Homeostasis - a state of stable physiological balanceEach individual system works in conjunction with other systems to improve our chances of survival by maintaining a stable internal body environment.

Homeostasis - Maintaining internal balance

The system as a whole regulates its internal environment and maintains a stable condition required for the body to function effectively so that you survive. The nervous system, endocrine system, circulatory system, respiratory system, digestive system, immune system, urinary system, reproductive system and others work together through the vital organs (brain, hearts, lungs, kidneys) and trillions of cells they are made of with incredible precision – exactly the way they should. We can not survive even if one essential enzyme or hormone is missing or malfunctions.

The nervous and endocrine systems control regulation of body temperature, blood pressure, pH of blood, blood glucose concentration, breathing rate and many other parameters. Secretion of appropriate hormones at the right time by pituitary, thyroid and adrenal glands is just one of the ways the body regulates the temperature as well as blood pressure. Blood pressure is maintained with the active coordination and regulation by each and every one of the organs including brain, lungs, heart and kidneys.

You are stardust and most of it is empty inside! It is hard to grasp just how small the atoms that make up your body are until you take a look at the sheer number of them. An adult is made up of around 7,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms!

Brain that drives the heart!

Interesting facts about your body

The components of your body are truly ancient: you are stardust as the atoms in your body were produced initially from the Big Bang 13.7bn years ago. The atoms that make up your body are mostly empty space. If you lost all your empty atomic space, your body would fit into a cube less than 1/500^th of a centimeter on each side!

The average adult takes over 20,000 breaths a day and your lungs inhale over two million liters of air every day. Your heart which is about the size of your fist has the mighty job of keeping blood flowing through the 60,000 miles of blood vessels that feed your organs and tissues which is about 2.5 times the circumference of the Earth. Every day, your heart beats about 100,000 times circulating thousands of gallons of blood per day travelling thousands of miles in a day. The heart beats around 3 billion times in the average person's life and pumps about 1 million barrels of blood during an average lifetime.

Your brain is made up of 100 billion nerve cells about the same as the number of trees in the Amazon rainforest. Each cell is connected to around 10,000 others. So the total number of connections in your brain is the same as the number of leaves in the rainforest - about 1000 trillion.

Your brain is unique – its connections are the result of everything you learnt and experienced as a child. Your brain started to wire itself up before you were born and carried on until you were two years old. Your brain changes throughout your life. Every experience you have will impact the structure of your brain. A changing brain enables us to learn, remember and adapt to our surroundings.

So human body is a testimony to the incredible engineering prowess of the mother nature. Trillions of tiny components inside the body act in perfect unison to realize a larger goal. It is like a very well-choreographed ballet where each one in the play knows as to what his or her role is and when he needs to spring into action for the other persons act to be consummated. Everything happens with incredible precision followed by a series of complex processes of which many of them happen without any conscious direction from their own mind.

Wonderful life we are blessed with! We could see that you and me are a sort of miracle in so many infinite ways and just cannot afford to miss a moment of wonderful life.

We are a living miracle!

Human body is a testimony to the incredible engineering prowess of the mother nature. Trillions of tiny components inside the body act in perfect unison to realize a larger goal. It is like a very well-choreographed ballet where each one in the play knows as to what his or her role is and when he needs to spring into action for the other persons act to be consummated. Everything happens with incredible precision followed by a series of complex processes of which many of them happen without any conscious direction from their own mind.

So coming back to the question “Who am I?” we could see that you and me are a sort of miracle in so many infinite ways and just can not afford to miss a moment of wonderful life we are so blessed with. We can live our lives with joy and happiness as long as we are aware of the present moment with the understanding in the words of neuroscientist Walter J Freeman — “There is no me inside my brain; there is only an ever changing set of brain states, a distillation of history, emotion, instinct, experience and the influence of other people and even chance”. The causation is circular and not linear.

The insights we gain from being aware of the reality within and without, dissolve our ignorance of considering ourselves as something we can identify with, while the reality is similar to a flow where everything is changing every moment. “I“ is an ever changing flow of energy constantly evolving through an infinite variety of forms, shapes, thoughts, feelings of the knower, the known and the process of knowing itself. The wisdom lies in learning to live – being in the present moment of the flow. Just be happy right now with the wonderful life which is more than a miracle!

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